Man Who Destroyed Trump’s Hollywood Star Is Ordered to Pay Almost $9,500

A 24-year-old man who destroyed President Trump’s star on the Hollywood Stroll of Fame with a pickax in July reached a plea deal on Wednesday requiring him to pay almost $9,500 for the marker’s substitute.

The person, Austin Mikel Clay, pleaded no contest to 1 felony rely of vandalism, in keeping with a information launch from the Los Angeles County District Lawyer’s Workplace. Beneath the plea settlement, a decide ordered him to pay $9,404.46 to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which manages the Stroll of Fame. That represents the precise price of repairs to the star, mentioned Leron Gubler, chief govt of the chamber.

In a YouTube video revealed shortly after the vandalism, Mr. Clay mentioned his destruction of the star was a “one-man protest” in opposition to the president and the Republican Occasion. “For so long as that star stays on Hollywood Boulevard, there’s going to be a extremely unfavorable presence there,” he mentioned within the video.

Mr. Clay, of Glendale, Calif., was additionally sentenced to 3 years of formal probation, in the future in county jail (which he already served) and 20 days of neighborhood labor, in keeping with the information launch. He should additionally attend psychological counseling.

Prosecutors mentioned Mr. Clay used a pickax to smash the pink star, which is fabricated from terrazzo and brass. Mr. Clay left the scene however turned himself in to the police the subsequent day, the information launch mentioned.

Mr. Gubler mentioned Mr. Trump’s star was absolutely repaired by early September. The Hollywood Historic Belief, a nonprofit group, is answerable for repairing the celebrities.

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When Mr. Trump’s star was put in in 2007, for his NBC present “The Apprentice,” the fee was about $20,000.Credit scoreChris Pizzello/Reuters

David Pourshalimi, Mr. Clay’s lawyer, mentioned on Wednesday that his shopper’s resolution to destroy Mr. Trump’s star was prompted by his administration’s apply of separating migrant youngsters from their mother and father after they crossed america border. That was the “final straw” for him, Mr. Pourshalimi mentioned.

“He thought he was actually doing the folks of america a service,” he mentioned, “that he was doing an act of goodness.”

In Mr. Clay’s YouTube video, he listed a number of political causes that he determined to focus on Mr. Trump’s star, together with the separation of migrant households, Mr. Trump’s relationship with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and the Trump administration’s environmental insurance policies. Mr. Clay additionally referred to as on the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to go away the star off the sidewalk.

Mr. Gubler mentioned the chamber doesn’t plan to alter its coverage over one star. “For all of the folks saying we should always take away the star, there are simply as many individuals who say you shouldn’t,” he mentioned of Mr. Trump’s marker.

The price of getting a star on the Stroll of Fame is now $40,000, which is usually paid by a sponsor for the movie star who applies for the star. When Mr. Trump’s star was put in in 2007, for his NBC present “The Apprentice,” the fee was about $20,000, Mr. Gubler estimated.

Mr. Gubler mentioned he thought this episode’s consequence would ship a message that there are penalties for vandalism. Lately, an artist constructed a six-inch “wall” round Mr. Trump’s star, and others smeared ketchup on it and painted it purple.

“We hope folks study that there are higher methods to precise their displeasure with Donald Trump,” Mr. Gubler mentioned.